willcox



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. H. WILLCOX.

SEAM FOR ARTICLES 0F MANUFAGTURE.

No. 498,600. Patented May 30, 1893.

wovm. was

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. H. WILLGOX.

SEAM FOR ARTICLES OF MANUFACTURE. No. 498,600. Patented May 30, 1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

CHARLES H. WVILLOOX, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE WILLCOX & GIBBS SEW'ING MACHINE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

SEAM FOR ARTICLES OF MANUFACTURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 498,600, dated May 30, 1893. Application filed November 11 1890- Serial No. 371,076. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. WILLOOX, of New York city, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Manufacture of Articles from Fabric, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification.

The present invention relates more particularly to the formation of seams in the manu- 1o facture of garments such as hosiery, from out knit goods and other fabrics.

Like many similar inventions in this art, its object is the formation of a strong and durable flat seam, which, while practically 15 adapted to unite in an efficient manner the proximate out edges of knit goods, presents no ridge, fold or welt, and in fact no appreciable thickening at the seam. The commercial value of such a result is well understood,

as are also the difficulties in the way of ac-' complishing it.

The chief difliculties are the want of stability of the cut edge, and its tendency to ravel and to curl up tightly. In addition to these, there is a tendency of the out edges of loops to project from the face of the fabric on one side or the other, according to the Way in which the fabric has been out. If cut lengthwise of the fabric, the loops will project on 0 the under side, and if out cross-wise, theywill project on the upper side. This difficulty can only be overcome by binding orholding down the loops by means of threads inclosing the edge at points sufficiently close together to 3 5 constitute an artificial covering or protection.

With this object in view, it has been proposed heretofore to make a flat seam by first placing a row of stitches, such as overedge stitches, along each cut edge; the loops of 40 these stitches covering and protecting the edges in the manner above pointed out, and then uniting the two edges by a third line of stitches whose threads interlock with the loops of the stitches first produced. The lat- 5 ter thus constitute an artificial selvage, and

The present invention contemplates the production at one operation of a seam which, while possessing certain novel and useful characteristics, as hereinafter pointed out, resembles that above referred to,in thatit comprises loops of thread which bind and cover each of the raw edges, and which also constitute selvage loops. by means of which the edges are united.

The desired object may be accomplished by a modification of the common zig-zag scam, in the following way: The edges to be joined are abutted, or placed in juxtaposition. A stitch is then made in one piece of fabric at a suitable distance from the edge, the next stitch at the line of junction of the two edges, the third in the other piece of fabric, and so on. In other words in the formation of the seam, the needle enters one of the pieces at the determined distance from the edge. Then at the next oscillation, instead of crossing over the meeting line to the adjacent piece,

'it descends at a half way point, that is exactly on the meeting line, and places a stitch there. When the needle again rises it passes over to the other piece of fabric forming a stitch therein, from which point it returns, forming another stitch at the meeting line, and so on. Thus in the course of each complete oscillation of the needle to the extremities of its path of movement back and forth across the line of seam, it descends four times, making four stitches, first through one piece of fabric, second between the two pieces, third through the other piece of fabric, and fourth between the two on its return movement. The new seam produced in this manner, differs from the ordinary seam produced by zig-zag sewing. In the latter a single loop 0 formed by the locking of the upper and lower threads, (if a double thread machine be used) ylfolds at opposite extremities in the two pieces of fabric. In the new scam the needle makes an additional stitch at each intersection of 5 the line of stitching with the meeting edges, and each complete loop embraces and holds a portion of one piece of fabric only, extending from the edge asuitable distance into the body of the fabric, and interlocks at the division I'oc line with a corresponding loop embracing a portion of the other piece of fabric. The seam thus presents a continuous series of connected loops, each of which interlocks, at the meeting lines of the pieces of fabric, with another loopextending on the opposite side of that line from the first loop. The result is practically the formation'of an artificial selvage and a covering on each cut edge, the contiguous loops interlocking at the line of union. The tightening of these loops in the process of sewing, binds the respective edges, counteracting tendency to raveling, without crowding the two edges together into a ridge, as occurs in ordinary 'zig-zag sewing, if the threads are tightly drawn up. The new seam also differs from the artificial selvage seam above referred to, in that the selvage and protecting loops of each raw edge interlock directly with the corresponding selvage and protecting loops of the adjacent edge.

In practically carrying out this method and producing this new result by machinery, it is necessary to provide special actuating mechanism for swinging the needle-bar back and forth in its horizontal movement. As herein shown the needle bar is carried by a frame which moves horizontally back and forth, keeping the needle bar always at about right angles to the work-plate. It is common however, in zigzag stitch machines to support the needle bar in guides which oscillate it like a pendulum, and this arrangement could, of course be used.

I have shown and described herein means for accomplishing the object in View, though it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that other means similar in principle, but differing in form and detail, may be employed in lieu thereof.

The cam which oscillates the needle-carrier in a common type of zig-zag machine, receives its motion from the main shaft, through gearing which, as specially contrived for the purposes of this invention, gives to the cam one revolution to four of the shaft. As the needle makes one reciprocation vertically to each revolution of the shaft, it must make four reciprocations to each revolution of the cam,

that is, to each complete oscillation back and forth of the swinging carrier. The cam is divided into eight sections representing equal periods of time, every alternate section being a concentric arc, during the period corresponding to which the carrier is at rest and the needle making its stitch. The fonralternating sections of the cam give to the needlecarrier the necessary movements back and forth, to and beyond the meeting line in both directions.

In the accompanyi ng drawings to which reference will now be made for the purpose of explaining the invention in detail, Figure 1 is a front elevation illustrating a machine suitable for use in carrying out the invention. Fig. 2 is a view of a portion of the gooseneck, partly in plan and partly in section. Fig. 3 is a face view of the cam for reciprocating the needle carrier. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the .vention.

presser-foot;.and Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged views in plan and cross-section respectively illustrating the seam.

The machine illustrated is the well known Wheeler (it Wilson double thread zig-zag stitch machine, and since its construction and operation are well understood by persons skilled in the art, the present description will be confined to those modifications which have been made in order to adapt the machine more perfectly to the purposes of the present in- Reference, however, may be had to the application of Stockton Borton and Charles H. Willcox, filed November 8, 1890, Serial No. 370,835, for a full description of modifications which have been made in order to efiect thetrimming of the edges of the two pieces of fabric to be joined (which pieces are introduced into the machine with their edges slightly overlapping or passing each other), the removal of the trimmed off strips on each side of the line of cut, and the sewing of the raw edges thus brought into close juxtaposition by zig-zag stitches.

It will only be necessary to describe herein the manner in which, and means by which, a stitch is placed exactly in the line of scam each time the needle reaches the same in its oscillating movement.

Referring first to Fig. 5, for a clear idea of the object to be accomplished, XY represent the two pieces of fabric to be joined, and the zigzag line 2022, 3032, indicates the path of the needle. The distance between any two adjacent angles as 2022, 30-32, represents the extreme length of the complete oscillation of the needle from right to left or vice versa. The distance between the points 20, 30, 40, on the sameside of the line of scam, represents the distance through which the fabric is fed forward While the needle is making one oscillation across and another back. The angles 20,22, 30, 32, &c., represent the point where the needle descends and locks its thread with a loop held by the looper, or with athread carried by the shuttle, as in ordinary zig-zag sewing. In forming the new seam, however, the needle does not go from the point 20 directly to the point 22, but stops at a point 21 half-way between the two, or exactly in the meeting line 19 of the two edges; and in returning it makes another stitch in this line at 31, and so on. The work is stationary while the needle is descending through, and rising out of the same, and the feed operates while the needle is passing from one stop to the next, the path of the needle being an are which is the resultant of the vertical motion of the needle-bar C, and the horizontal motion of the swinging frame or carrier H (Fig. 1). The needle-bar O is reciprocated vertically by the usual means, and makes, in the machine shown, one complete reciprocation to each revolution of the main shaft 13. The swinging frame or carrier H, in which the needle-bar O reciprocates, receives its motions through alink J, from a cam or disk W,

which disk is driven from a pinion 18 on the main shaft. The main shaft B makes four revolutions to each one of the cam W. Conse: quently the needle will descend and rise four times while it swings from one extremity of its path to the other and back again. As shown, the cam is in the form of a groove to in the face of disk W, and in this groove isa pin 23 (or it may be a friction roller) carried by the inner end of a curved lever 24, which is centered at 25, and has on its outer face an undercut groove 26. The end of link J is pivotally secured to this lever by a clamp which lies in the groove and can be tightened or loosened at will by means of the thumb screw 27. The length of the horizontal motion of the needle, or what may be called the width of the seam, may be increased or diminished by shifting the end of link .I from or toward the center 25 of lever 24. The cam groove 10 is so constructed that this adjustment can be effected without changing the position of the needle when it descends to make the intermediate stitches 21, 31, &c., as will be hereinafter explained. In other words,

no matter what may be the length of the needles motion on one side of the meeting line 19 (Fig. 5) it will move precisely the same distance on the other side, and every other stitch will be looped exactly in the line between the two edges; 7

Referring to Fig. 3 the cam is shown for convenience of explanation as divided into eight sections, by eight equidistant radial lines. The sections are marked w, w and so on from left to right, and the lines bounding them are marked L, L and so on in the same order. When the pin 23 is at the point intersected by line L, which is its position as indicated in Fig. 2, the needle will have risen from the work at the extreme left of the path of oscillation, that is from one of the points indicated by 22, 32 or 42 in Fig. 5, and as the cam turns through oneeighth of a revolution, the pin 23 travels in the section 10' of the groove, gradually approaching the center 29 of the cam, until it reaches the line L when the needle will have traveled the distance from 22 to 31, Fig. 5. The edges of the succeeding section 20 of the groove are concentric arcs. Consequently duringthis eighth of a revolution the swinging-frame H is'stationary, and it is during this period that the needle descends between the meeting edges at 31 and backs out, the feed being out of action. In the next section 20 the pin 23, and consequently the frame H, moves still farther to the right, and when the pin reaches line L the needle has reached the limit of its motion to the right, and it descends through the work at 30 during the succeeding eighth of a revolution, represented by the concentric arc w. After-the pin passes line L it begins its movement to the left, which continues during the remaining half revolution of the cam,- with resting periods while the pin is passing through the concentric sections w w. R will be observed that when the pin is in the concentric sections to and 10 which are diametrically opposite to each other, the needle is at one of the intermediate points, as 21. These two sections are at exactly the same distance from the center 29, and this distance is equal to just half the sum of the distances from the center to sections 10 and 10 respectively. Consequently'the needle will reach as far to one side of the intermediate stitches as to the other, whatever may be the distance from 20 to 22, or the width of the seam. In order that theseintermediatestitches shouldalways,irrespective of the adjustment of link J, be in the same vertical plane, the cam and the lever 24 are so disposed relatively to each other that,

whenever pin 23 is in either section to or w", 1

the lever 24 will at that moment be in such position that its groove 26 is exactly concentrio with the point of attachment of link J with frame H. "In other words, at this time c the button 27 at the end of link J, could be moved lengthwise of lever 24, without changing the position of the frame H and needlebar 0. This arrangement insures that the adjustment of the width of seam will not change the location of the intermediate stitches 21. In Fig. 4 is shown the presser-foot d, which is similar to that described inthe application above referred to. It is provid ed-with a transverse oblong slot (1' through which the needle passes. This slot is divided into three sections by the projections or toes g (1 over which the needle point moves between successive punctures of the cloth. The object of therefore does not tend to crowd the edges to-' gether, but bindsth'e threads of the fabric more firmly together, thus counteracting raveling to a large extent and firmly binding or covering the edges, so that the loose threads or loops cannot project from the face of Y the fabric. When the goods have been cut crosswise of the direction in which ithas been knitted, the tendency to raveling is more pronounced than when the cut is parallel to the line of knitting, and this tendency increases proportionally as the line of cut inclines more from the direction of the knitting to a'line at right angles thereto. It is necessary, therefore, in sewing across the fabric, to take a deeper hold in order to make a sufficiently strong seam, and in-this case there is the greater necessity for uniting the threadsform ing the stitch at the line of junction of the two edges. This follows from the fact tha'tin regular zig-zag sewing, the threads of a stitch extend from the needle puncture in one piece of material, to the puncture in the next, and the greater the distance between the stitches, the less effect have they in holding down the cut loops which tend to project.

In the new seam shown in Figs. 5 and 6 each binding loop 33, 34, interlocks in the meeting line with a similar loop embracing a portion of the contiguous piece of fabric, and the successive loops constitute an artificial selvage to the two united ed es, the main difference between this seam, and that uniting selvage edges in regular made goods, being that, in the latter, a separate thread is interlaced in the selvage loops connecting them together, and in the former the artificial selvage loops themselves interlock and hold directly one to the other.

The mechanism herein described and shown in the accompanying drawings is set forth merely as a convenient and practical means of producing the seam, and is not claimed as part of the present invention.

I am aware that heretofore zigzag lines of sewing have been produced in which, for ornamental purposes, two, three or more stitches have been made between each angle. It has also been suggested, prior to my invention, that machinery designed to oscillate the work (in sewing materials such as leather) might be so constructed and arranged as to cause the needle to pass first through one piece of material, then through the joint, and then through the other piece. So far as I am aware, however, such a seam as this was never produced or applied to any purpose prior to my invention; nor have any means for making it been devised or produced. I do not, however, broadly claim its production, my invention residing in the application of the seam herein shown and described to cut knit goods. The combination of the selvage or protecting loops with the raw cut edges of knit fabric produces a new and important industrial result.

Having now fully described my said invention, whatI claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination with two pieces of cut knit fabric having their raw edges abutting, of a series of connected loops of thread, binding and protecting each of said edges, each loop being interlocked at the meeting line with a similar loop on the edge of the contiguous piece of fabric, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHAS. H. WILLOOX.

Witnesses:

FRED. E. TALBOT, GI MAN E. J OPP. 

